


Divinity in Disguise

by Nemainofthewater



Series: Operation: reward ThebanSacredBand for surviving exam season [2]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gods and Goddesses, M/M, Nonsense, Swearing, no way this is going to happen, spoilers up to 4x12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 14:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18448499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nemainofthewater/pseuds/Nemainofthewater
Summary: They end up falling in the sea of cursed magic. Because of course they do. On the bright side, they do manage to banish both the Monster and his sister just before they touch the magic/water: one crisis averted at least?But yeah.Turns out banishing two ancient primordial beings and freeing their friends from being possessed was just the start of their problems. Must be a Monday.Or the one where eight magicians fall into into the sea of magic, and eight gods walk out.





	Divinity in Disguise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThebanSacredBand](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThebanSacredBand/gifts).



> Title from this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: 
> 
> “Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.”

They end up falling in the sea of cursed magic. Because of course they do. On the bright side, they do manage to banish both the Monster and his sister just before they touch the magic/water: one crisis averted at least?

 

But yeah. Eight magicians fall into the sea of magic, and eight gods walk out.

 

Turns out banishing two ancient primordial beings and freeing their friends from being possessed was just the start of their problems. Must be a Monday.

 

  1. _Julia-Hope_



 

Julia’s the one who first realises what happened. She’s the only one with any experience of this whole ‘godhood’ thing, insomuch as months of weird shit capped with literally a few hours’ worth of proper divinity can be constituted experience.

 

Despite her damp hair and the trails of mascara running down her face, she looks resplendent. Otherworldly. Literally glowing (but then again, they all are).

 

“I can hear them all again,” she says, “The prayers. To Our Lady of the Tree. Actually I think I might be getting some for Our Lady Underground as well. I guess since the Monsters killed all those gods… there must be a power vacuum.”

 

She pauses. Wrinkles her nose.

 

“I forgot how loud they were.”

 

  1. _Margo- Victory_



 

They all agree that Whitespire’s probably the best place to regroup as it’s a) close by, b) not under surveillance by the Library (or what’s left of it) and c) close to the secret sea and therefore a huge source of magic if Quentin can manage to get his Fillory boner back.

 

Plus. There’s Fen. Fen who Margo hasn’t seen since her banishment (and that was a bitch to get around. Luckily it, like a lot of FIllorian magic, was stupidly literal and so long as she didn’t actually step foot on Fillorian soil she was fine.)

 

“Margo!” Fen cries when she sees them, and she runs straight at her, hugging her tightly.

 

“And…Eliot?”

 

Fen doesn’t move, just staring straight at where Eliot was awkwardly bringing up the rear.

 

“Told you I’d get him back,” Margo drawls.

 

“You did,” Fen says, and reaching out she hugs Margo tightly.

 

“I knew you would,” she whispers in Margo’s ear, “Thank you.”

 

“Yeah well, someone has to save that dumbass from himself.”

 

“I never doubted you,” Fen says earnestly, and then she’s gone, bounding like a deer to literally throw herself into Eliot’s arms.

 

And Margo…she did it. She got her best friend back, she’s been un-banished from her kingdom (or at least she’s able to be here without having to literally float everywhere) and she’s a fucking goddess.

 

A feeling rises in her chest, vindictive pleasure and joy at a battle fought and won. Around her the torches flare.

 

“Holy shit Margo,” Josh says, “Your eyes just glowed gold.”

 

Margo grins fiercely. And-spinning around she dips Josh and kisses him.

 

“Umber’s tits,” Fen groans, “Not again.”

 

  1. _Josh-the Hearth_



 

Josh doesn’t really care about the whole god thing. I mean, yes, it’s cool that they’ve all become immortal beings but eh. There are still the same old problems. And as someone who knew Bacchus (intimately) for years, Josh knows better than anyone that being a god isn’t anything to get excited about.

 

Things are still strained amongst them. Now that the battle is over, no one is quite sure where things fit any more, old friendships strained and torn.

 

So, Josh does what he knows best. He cooks.

 

He banishes the servants from the kitchens and sets to baking. While his bread is rising, he prepares a small roast and starts reducing some sauces to pour over the venison to make it slightly more flavourful.

 

He hums as he works and before he knows it everything is done. A mini-feast good enough for a king. Or for gods as the case might be. He carefully lays the plates out and goes to fetch the others. In his experience, home cooked food always helps settle tempers. Maybe not enough to completely fix things. But enough for a solid foundation.

 

  1. _Alice-Wisdom_



 

Alice is the only one of them to establish an official temple. It’s nothing much, nothing like the elegant monuments that Ember and Umber established.

 

It looks like a homey cottage deep in the woods of Fillory, but once any potential worshippers enter, they realise that the structure is a lot bigger than it appears on the outside.

 

(Margo calls it a TARDIS and the name sticks despite Quentin’s protests that it isn’t blue or a police box)

 

The walls, all sixteen of them (so she went a bit overboard ok) are lined with shelves and shelves of books and scrolls, and a few stone tablets. Along with the regular type of tablet because seriously fuck pre-industrial societies.

 

Anyone is welcome to enter so long as they come in good faith, to learn.

 

Even as a goddess, Alice can never recapture all the knowledge that she once possessed as a niffin. Although she’s giving it her best try. But staring out at the heads of her worshippers, bent over their books in thought, children running around the stacks to find their perfect book… Maybe she doesn’t need all the knowledge in the universe. Maybe she just needs to pass on the knowledge she already has.

 

  1. _Kady-War_



 

Kady returns home. She has a war to fight.

 

And standing in front of the portal to the Library, an army of hedges behind her and Pete by her side- she feels alive. She feels better than alive because she knows that this. This is her purpose. This is finally something that’s hers, not a last-minute Quest that she’s been tacked on to as an afterthought.

 

“This is our moment,” she says. She’s not shouting. Everyone can hear her anyway. “This is our time. To take back what’s ours. The Library thinks that it can take what it wants. That it can bring back the status quo. The library doesn’t know shit.”

 

She nods at Pete.

 

He turns to the crowd behind them.

 

“On my mark,” he says. The air is tense with anticipation. Months of planning, of training, of reconnaissance have gone into this moment. This is the culmination of all their work.

 

“Charge!”

 

 

  1. _Penny-the Messenger_



 

“Margo says good job. She could feel the victory celebrations from Fillory.”

 

Kady grins (and briefly Penny can see why his alternate self loves her so much).

 

“Tell her that the fight’s not over yet. She’s welcome to join us. We could do with another stone-cold bitch.”

 

Penny is so over this shit.

 

Haven’t these guys ever heard of messenger bunnies?

 

  1. _Eliot-Healing_



 

“Come on, seriously?” Eliot groans.

 

He stands, dusting his hands off absently. Not that he needs to-he figures that dirt and germs just…seem to avoid him nowadays. He definitely could have used that during his childhood.

 

“Yeah yeah you’re cured don’t do it again,” he says to the man crouched by his side.

 

“Thank you, my Lord, how can I ever repay you…” the man gasps, staring at his chest in wonder. Considering that a few moments ago he’d been half-dead from some sort of wasting disease he’s probably a bit overwhelmed.

 

Eliot though? Eliot is so over it. He hates curing illnesses, they always leave him feeling unclean afterward. Give him a nice broken back any day.

 

“Do you have any decent alcohol?” Eliot asks without holding out much hope.

 

The man gapes at him.

 

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Just-be good.”

 

Then he disappears.

 

Reappears next to Quentin who’s curled in his favourite chair, a faded green monstrosity that Eliot swears tried to eat him last time he sat in it and reading one of his old fantasy books.

 

Eliot huffs and sprawls out on the floor next to the chair, resting his head on Quentin’s lap. He hums contently as Quentin starts running his hand through Eliot’s hair soothingly.

 

“I can’t believe that I didn’t get god of debauchery. Fashion maybe. I would even accept beauty. But healing? Having to run around and heal drunken teenagers who think that having archery competitions with their eyes closed is the best idea after a couple of pints of tragically sour wine… What the hell is up with that?”

 

Quentin hums.

 

“You love it really.”

 

“No, I don’t,” Eliot protests half-heartedly. Because the truth is…after everything he did as the Monster. It is nice to be able to heal instead of destroy for once. Not that he’ll ever admit it.

 

He shifts slightly, making himself more comfortable and settles in to a nice long bitching session about the idiots he healed today.

 

  1. _Quentin-Death_



 

Quentin is the first to admit when he first figured out what his godhood was…He wasn’t pleased.

 

(That might be an understatement. There was some shouting. Some throwing things. A teensy-tiny breakdown.)

 

It feels like a slap in the face: to have fought and bled for the chance to just-live peacefully. Only to be given the dominion over the dead. Hadn’t he seen enough death in his life?

 

But then he realises… death isn’t the end of things. (He’s seen the afterlife and it’s a bowling alley). Death is also comforting the ones left being, soothing the spirits of the departed so that leave peacefully, content in the knowledge that their friends and family and loved ones are safe.

 

And it’s not like there aren’t any perks to the job.

 

“Oh, my gods dad, are you brooding again?” Teddy asks, laughing.

 

“Hey,” Quentin says, “You should be nicer to your old man. Or I won’t give up the goods.”

 

Teddy looks supremely unconcerned.

 

“Sure, you won’t,” he says, “If you don’t give me my weekly fix of cookies then I know that papa will. And even if you manage to sway him to your side, I know that I can just go straight to Uncle Josh. Get them from the source.”

 

“How did we raise such a brat?” Quentin asks fondly.

 

“Takes one to know one dad.”

 

Yeah. The perks are pretty great.

**Author's Note:**

> ThebanSacredBand-less angsty at least???  
> I am on Tumblr as [Nemainofthewater ](https://nemainofthewater.tumblr.com)


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